The appetite for exchange-traded products knows no bounds. According to the latest data from ETFGI, the global ETF industry shattered its all-time records last year. By the end of November 2025, no fewer than 2,759 new products had been launched on global financial markets, reflecting the unprecedented vitality of index and thematic investing.
An acceleration driven by the US-Asia axis
The sector’s dynamism is striking: compared to the 1,789 launches in 2024, the growth in offerings has accelerated exponentially. While Europe maintains a solid pace with 462 new vehicles, the center of gravity of this expansion lies on the U.S.-Asia-Pacific axis, which now accounts for 66% of global launches. Notably for investors, fund survival rates appear to be improving: product closures have slowed (500 in 2025), a sign of a market gaining maturity and becoming more focused in its launches.
"Conversion": the technological driver of the U.S. market
Why such a surge, particularly across the Atlantic with over 1,000 new launches? The answer lies in a profound shift in the asset management landscape: the massive conversion of mutual funds (traditional UCITS) into ETFs.
The standout example of the year is the Akre Focus ETF, which went public last October with nearly $10 billion in assets under management. For asset management firms, this transformation is not merely cosmetic: it allows them to offer investors a more agile structure that is tax-optimized (particularly under the U.S. tax system) and often features more competitive management fees. This phenomenon is radically transforming the existing product offering by making it more accessible via standard trading platforms.
Active Management: The New Frontier of ETFs
The key takeaway for Family Offices and Wealth Planners lies in the very nature of these launches: of all new products, 1,454 are actively managed ETFs. This statistic confirms that the "ETF" category is no longer reserved solely for the passive replication of broad indices. It is becoming the preferred vehicle for housing discretionary convictions, complex bond strategies, or niche themes (AI, infrastructure, energy transition).
This proliferation of offerings, driven by giants like BlackRock (iShares) or specialists like Global X, provides unprecedented granularity for portfolio construction. However, it requires wealth management professionals to engage in increasingly sophisticated selection processes, as the number of providers active across the world’s 40 stock exchanges continues to grow.
